OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies in patients with early systemic sclerosis (scleroderma, SSc). METHODS: At the annual visit, SSc patients enrolled in the Genetics versus Environment in Scleroderma Outcomes Study (GENISOS) were queried about their use of CAM therapies and intended symptom target, including herbal or nutraceutical therapy, acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical neural stimulation, and mind-body therapy (relaxation, meditative, imagery).

The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology: Official Journal of the Korean Physiological Society and the Korean Society of Pharmacology

The mushroom Cordyceps militaris has been used for a long time in eastern Asia as a nutraceutical and in traditional Chinese medicine as a treatment for cancer patients. In the present study, a cytotoxic antifungal protease was purified from the dried fruiting bodies of C. militaris using anion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Sepharose column. Electrophoretic analyses indicated that this protein, designated C. militaris protein (CMP), has a molecular mass of 12 kDa and a pI of 5.1. The optimum conditions for protease activity were a temperature of 37 and pH of 7.0~9.0.

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the efficacy of various complementary and alternative medicine approaches in the management of headache disorders. These treatment modalities include nutraceutical, physical and behavioral therapies. Nutraceutical options comprise vitamins and supplements (magnesium, riboflavin, coenzyme Q(10), and alpha lipoic acid) and herbal preparations (feverfew, and butterbur). Although controversial, there are some reports demonstrating the benefit of recreational drugs such as marijuana, lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin in headache treatment.

An extensive range of pigments including phycobiliproteins are present in algae. C-phycocyanin (C-PC), a phycobiliprotein, is one of the key pigments of Spirulina, a microalgae used in many countries as a dietary supplement. Algal pigments have massive commercial value as natural colorants in nutraceutical, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries, besides their health benefits.

Glucosamine in its acetylated form is a natural constituent of some glycosaminoglycans (for example, hyaluronic acid and keratan sulfate) in the proteoglycans found in articular cartilage, intervertebral disc and synovial fluid. Glucosamine can be extracted and stabilized by chemical modification and used as a drug or a nutraceutical. It has been approved for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) in Europe to promote cartilage and joint health and is sold over the counter as a dietary supplement in the United States.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no cure. Huperzine A (HupA) is a natural inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) derived from the Chinese folk medicine Huperzia serrata (Qian Ceng Ta). It is a licensed anti-AD drug in China and is available as a nutraceutical in the US. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that HupA has multifaceted pharmacological effects.

BACKGROUND: The sclerotium of Lignosus rhinocerotis (Cooke) Ryvarden or Tiger milk mushroom (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) is a valuable folk medicine for indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia. Despite the increasing interest in this ethnobotanical mushroom, very little is known about the molecular and genetic basis of its medicinal and nutraceutical properties. RESULTS: The de novo assembled 34.3 Mb L. rhinocerotis genome encodes 10,742 putative genes with 84.30% of them having detectable sequence similarities to others available in public databases.

Rhus coriaria L. (sumac) is an important crop widely used in the Mediterranean basin as a food spice, and also in folk medicine, due to its health-promoting properties. Phytochemicals present in plant foods are in part responsible for these consequent health benefits. Nevertheless, detailed information on these bioactive compounds is still scarce. Therefore, the present work was aimed at investigating the phytochemical components of sumac fruit epicarp using HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS in two different ionisation modes.

Alpinia pricei Hayata is a Formosan plant which has been popularly used as nutraceutical or folk medicine for inflammation and various disorders. An active compound of the plant rhizomes, desmethoxyyangonin (DMY), was identified in this study for its novel effect against endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated inflammation in murine macrophages and LPS/D-galactosamine (LPS/D-GalN)-induced fulminant hepatitis in mice. DMY was observed to significantly inhibit proliferation and activation of T cells ex vivo and the activity of several pro-inflammatory mediators in vitro.